บท 99: Naught but Crosses
The duo slowly made their way towards the town of Nipton. From a distance, it looks like a relatively small shanty town, using old-prewar buildings for homes and businesses. Fortunately, the black smoke didn't seem to be coming from burning buildings... Instead, it should be originating from the centre of it.
Just as the two are about to enter the town's streets they're approached by a man wearing Powder Ganger attire, an almost manic grin on their face. "Hehehaahahah! I won, I won the lottery! Suck it work!" he suddenly shouts, putting both Afton and Karl on high alert, their hands resting on their respective weapons.
"What lottery?" Afton quickly inquires, feeling like something's amiss here... And not just because of the heavy smell of charcoal and... Burning flesh?
"What lottery? THE lottery! The lottery of life, and I'm the winner! You two losers can suck it, I'm going to New Vegas and seeing how far my luck can really go!"
"Boy, you really think they'd let you into New Vegas wearing Powder Ganger gear?" Karl asks as if he were stupid.
"Hah! With my luck they'd bow down and blow me! You two downers can go do one! Cya later losers! Hahahaha!" he shouts before running off into the desert... He had no visible supplies or weaponry, so he was definitely going to die... Afton shakes his head, if they wanted to die so much then he'd let 'em, no point in trying to help someone like that anyway.
"Seems like somethin' fucked up has happened here." Karl mutters, moving his focus from the man to the town, his nose twitching.
Afton nods and they slowly walk into the town, the smell of burning flesh only gets stronger the further they progress, with the added metallic scent of blood. They come out onto a path that cuts through the middle of the entire town and are appalled by what they see.
Along the sides of the road are crucifixes with people nailed to them, a few are black with burnt corpses but most still have living people on them... On the floor of the street there are many corpses, presumably of those who'd tried to resist.
"What the fuck is this?" Afton growls, slowly becoming more enraged the more he sees. Why would someone do this? yeah, sure, he'd raided a couple caravans... But this wasn't for survival, no, it was some sick show of dominance...
"Legion demoralisation tactics." Karl states, "Seen 'em before in my time... Like to put 'em in places the NCR can see and torture those nailed to them." he sighs, "We should put them out of their misery, they look to have been here for a couple days now."
Afton raises a brow at Karl and walks over to examine one of the men, he was sure there was something they could do, right? But, upon further examination he could see that they had indeed been here too long. The limbs that'd been nailed had begun necrotising, it was clear their wounds were infected aswell... He didn't know how long the necrosis had gone on so it'd be a miracle if they survived... Even if they did he'd have to amputate all of their lims.
"You're right, death would be a mercy." he admits, who'd look after the men if he somehow saved them? They'd be completely incapable of taking care of themselves... And what kind of existence would it be without arms or legs?
He feels a pat on his back and turns to Karl who was looking directly at the largest building at the end of the road... People wearing red sports-gear had exited in formation, There was around thirty of them, with fifteen vicious-looking dogs accompanying them. There were burning piles of clothes weaponry, and supplies next to the building and these people were probably responsible for it.
"Legion." Karl quietly says through gritted teeth.
Afton's about to draw his weapon and start firing at them, but Karl stops his hand with a firm grip, "Stop, we're outnumbered and out-geared... They haven't shot at us yet which means they have something to say. I get what you're feelin' Afton, but we can't throw our lives away here... We still have much to do." he says, claiming the eighteen-year-old who was about to start firing.
They slowly make their way over and are greeted by a man who seems to be the leader of the group, they have pale skin and wear a dog's head as a hood, black goggles that conceal the eyes. They grin at the duo and Afton struggles not to pull out Lucky as bore another hole into their face.
"Don't worry, I won't lash you to a cross like the rest of these degenerates... I want you to witness the fate of Nipton, to memorize every detail and let other's know the strength of Caesar." he says in a surprisingly youthful voice, though if Afton had to place it, they man would look more fitting wearing a rat's head.
"And what crime did this 'degenerates' commit to deserve this?" Afton asks, cold fury in his voice.
The legionary grins, "Why, the entirety of Nipton brought this upon itself... It was a blasphemous town of whoring, gambling, and any other vices human's tend to dabble in. It didn't matter whether we were strong and they were weak, this destruction was wrought by their own hands."
"What do you mean?" Afton asks, not getting what the man was referring to.
"The mayor of this immoral and debased town had accepted an offer we made... To lure the NCR troops who were... Enjoying the town's facilities so we could execute them. It was only afterwards that the trappers became trapped, before you on the crosses are the men helping us capture the NCR..."
"Where are the NCR troops then?" Karl asks, wanting to know if there was a chance of possible rescue.
"Hm, you may have already seen them... The bones you stepped over on the way here belonged to them, they put up a much more valiant fight than the rest of these cretins."
ความคิดของผู้สร้าง 
Niggross
Niggross Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
บท 100: Orcish Brutality
Afton was struggling to remain calm and rational in this situation, the man had just admitted to wiping out the town as if it were nothing much... He knew it was best to just gather as much information from him as possible before hurrying back to the Mojave Outpost to report what'd happened... Still, he couldn't help but imagine what shooting this man in his face would feel like.
"What's this 'Lottery' you ran..." he asks after a moment of silence.
"Oh, that? One of my more entertaining schemes... The town outnumbered us greatly, so we simply disbursed lottery tickets among the inhabitants. Winners get to live, losers, well, you've already seen them. Watching the townsfolk fight amongst each other instead of us was enlightening I must say." they say, proud at what he'd managed to do.
Afton shakes his head and glances at Karl, receiving a nod. They'd both heard enough from this mad-man and decided to leave. But before they do, he asks one last thing. "What's your name."
"Vulpes Inculta, leader of the Frumentarii. Be sure to let anyone you come across know of what occurred here." he says, waving his hand in the air and beginning to walk east.
Afton and Karl watch them as they leave, once they're out of sight they draw their weapons and put the sorry souls on the crosses out of their misery. They gather all the corpses and burn them to prevent predators from infesting the town, all the while gathering any NCR dog tags they can find.
They would attempt to find survivors but both doubted the Legion would have left any... Besides, it was more imperative that the report back to Ghost to let her know about what'd happened here. Not just to warn them, but show that the Legion could indeed reach this far into NCR territory.
The backtrack through the Giant Ant covered road and made back to the Outpost after an hour or so of walking. They stride under the feet of the statue and walk to Ghost who's waiting on the roof of the Barracks.
"What was it? You find anything?" she quickly asks, putting down her scoped hunting rifle.
Afton nods gravely, "The Legion massacred Nipton, killed almost everyone there and nailed the rest to crosses." he states coldly
...
Ghost's mouth opens but no words come out, a shakey hand pulls off her sunglasses to reveal her widening eyes. "Is... Is this true?"
Karl gives a small nod, "Vulpes Inculta is the one responsible."
Ghost suddenly slams her and down on the table she's propped her weapon on, "DAMN IT! FUCK! Why did no one listen to me!? I knew something was off when our men never returned!"
"You knew NCR troops would go there to fuck and gamble?" Afton asks in disbelief, shouldn't the NCR keep better control of their men? That's how the Brotherhood functioned at least.
Ghost nods, "Look around you, there's fuck all to do around here. We let the men waste their paychecks on getting laid to ease the tensions around, but... We never expected THIS. I need to inform Jackson, take this for risking your lives."
"Wait." he stops her, reaching behind him and untying the large head of the ant queen and handing it to her, "Give this to him aswell, send our regards." he says.
Ghost looks at it for a moment before hurrying off, lifting it onto her shoulder due to its rather heavyweight.
With that, time stops. Afton was more or less familiar with such a sensation at this point and simply glanced in front of him where a screen appeared.
[WELCOME TO LEVEL 9]
[WELCOME TO LEVEL 10]
[WELCOME TO LEVEL 11]
Immediately he receives to level ups, he didn't know why the system prevented him from levelling sometimes, but assumed it was due to completing a quest? Or perhaps getting to safety? He'd need to look into it further to understand.
As of now, he had 45 skills points to use and wasn't all to sure what to do with them... He could max out Speech and see what bonus he'd get from it, or he could try another skill... Shaking his head, he decides to just max Speech and start putting points into Repair.
[Perk gained! : Spies Guise]
[Spies Guise] : People are unnaturally willing to give up information they wouldn't otherwise.
Knowledge flooded his mind, the correct way to act in certain situations, etiquette from lost civilisations bored themselves into his memory, even pickup lines were counted among the information. Afton wasn't too sure why he needed to know what "Lok-Tar Ogar" meant...
The perk was rather underwhelming if he were honest... But that's to be expected from the Speech Skill... Next he's presented with the possible Perks he could choose from.
[Here and Now] : You instantly level up again. This was dogshit and a waste of a Perk.
[Finesse] : +5% Critical Chance. Good but not mindblowing, he had his eye on a Perk from the previous levels which would probably be better than this.
[Night Person] : +2 Intelligence and +2 Perception between 6:00 P.M. and 6:00 A.M. Good but situational...
These Perks didn't interest him all that much, so, after a moment of thought he decided to go with [Quick Draw] instead. He could already draw his weapons quicker than most people, but with this he'd probably be able to get a shot off before they could blink.
He confirms his choice but is interrupted when another notification pops up.
[WELCOME TO LEVEL 12]
He raises a brow at this, did it wait until he chose a Perk from the previous level before letting him level again? It made sense as if it did it all in one go he'd be able to get multiple more advanced Perks...
Regardless, he now had an extra 15 skill points to spend. He deposits them all into Repair and continues onto Perks.
[Fast Metabolism] : +20% Hit Points restored with stimpaks. Useful but Afton didn't really know how else the Perk would affect his body... The toughness perk literally hardened his skin, and this would likely increase the amount of food he'd have to eat. Something to consider but not amazing.
[Life Giver] : +30 hit points. Short but sweet... He wasn't really sure how hit points correlated to his actual health, regardless it was something to keep an eye on.
[Sniper] : 25% more likely to hit the target's head in V.A.T.S. This was amazing, he didn't use VATS all that much as he could more or less handle himself without it, but if he ever needed a "boost" this would be life saving.
Without much hesitation, he picked [Sniper]. He could already imagine himself fanning the hammer of his revolver and head shotting many people from a huge distance... Time resumed and he quickly recollected himself.
He took a glance at his Pipboy as he and Karl made their way to the bar, both could use a drink after what they'd seen in Nipton.
Afton Parker
Level : 12
S.P.E.C.I.A.L :
Strength : 7
Perception : 7
Endurance : 7
Charisma : 4
Intelligence : 6
Agility : 7
Luck : 4
Skills :
Barter : 21
Energy Weapons : 55
Explosives : 20
Guns : 100
Lockpick : 10
Medicine : 40
Melee Weapons : 38
Repair : 60
Science : 44
Sneak : 20
Speech : 100
Survival : 30
Unarmed : 30
Perks :
[Trigger Discipline], [Heavy Handed], [Rapid Reload], [Torture Techniques], [Educated], [John Wick Style], [Toughness], [Stonewall], [Bug Stomper], [Lord Death v1], [Spies Guise], [Quick Draw]
Companion Perks :
[Old Wisdom]
ความคิดของผู้สร้าง
Niggross
Niggross
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
If you like my content or want to read ahead please go to https://www.p.atreon.com/Nagross, I'd appreciate it.
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
200+ การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
3 หินพลัง 
ความคิดเห็นย่อย